Johnson County Healthy Yards Expo

March 28, 2015 — 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Get the real dirt on growing green at the Johnson County's Healthy Yards Expo, an exciting lawn and garden event to help you make greener choices in the yard and home.

It's a marketplace of ideas, tools and experts for eco-improvements for yards. It’s a one-stop learning event on green ideas, products and services.

The Expo focuses on the Kansas Healthy Yards and Communities from Kansas State University’s Research and Extension, which helps you make wise choices on environmentally conscious lawn and garden care techniques. The interactive program helps you evaluate lawns and gardens practices in areas such as from water use to wildlife habitat. The Healthy Yards Expo will highlight products, tips and tools that meet the program’s criteria.

Visitors to the Expo can:

Talk with local green industry vendors and find out what’s new!

Get tips and tricks from our and other experts.

Interact with the Expo's’s vendors with plants, garden art and accessories.

Visit with Johnson County K-State Research and Extension Master Gardeners and plant societies offering expert advice on gardening and plant cultivation.

Listen to informative speakers on topics such as composting, water conservation, tree care, wildlife gardening and more.

Participate in free, fun and educational activities for children. Bring the kids!

Kids Activities

Join the fun of celebrating Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax. Ongoing during the day will be activities for kids. Make your own Lorax Pot and a special button. The Lorax will be read during the day so come and celebrate those who speak for the trees.

A soil test will provide you with the fertility needs to grow healthy plants while protecting our soil and water.

Become an Expo Vendor:
We are currently looking for businesses and non-profit groups to have a booth during the Expo. Your business must be a green related product to the home and landscape. The committee must approve any vendors. For more information please download the application or contact us.

9:15 am: It All Begins with the Soil by Nancy Chapman
Healthy soil is the foundation of a healthy garden. Learn the science of building a healthy soil structure.
Think soil is just dirt?

10:30 am: Kansas Healthy Yards and Communities by Nancy Chapman
For those new to the concept, this is the most current gardening 101. How being conscious of the way we think about our yards can change the health of our communities.

11:15 am: Drip Irrigation in Your Landscape by Rob Mortko
Drip irrigation is a technology widely used in agriculture, landscape, greenhouses and nurseries to apply water directly where it is needed. It’s one of the most effective irrigation method.

Permaculture (permanent agriculture) is the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems which have the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems. It is the harmonious integration of landscape and people, providing their food, energy, shelter, and other material and non-material needs in a sustainable and ethical way.

10:15 am: Native Plants at Home in the Landscape – Ted Semadeni, City of Lenexa, Stormwater Superintendent

11:00 am: Emerald Ash Borer – What you need to know?, Sarah Crowder, City of Overland Park, City Forester

11:45 am: Great Trees for the Landscape – Dennis Patton, Johnson County Extension

12:30 pm: Methods of Composting: Which one is right for you? By Mae Christenson

This class will cover the basic science of composting in order to find solutions for composting challenges.

1:15 pm: Perennial Gardening in Kansas by Mae Christenson

It’s no longer enough to garden for beauty. With shrinking water resources, increasing threat to pollinator extinction, and pollution to the waterways, we, gardeners, can make a big difference by creating a garden that is not only beautiful but can sustain life within and beyond it. Gardening with Native Plants will be covered.